BrianS

That's exactly how I read it. That said, losing him wouldn't kill us. We'd get a compensatory for it if he went on to a GM job with another team.

The problem with Howell, or Pickett, or Corral isn't the player. It's our own draft position. Where we are picking this year is a place where you'd normally expect to get a CLEAR franchise guy. All of these guys have little question marks. But where we pick is not their problem. I think that it's highly likely that whomever we pick at 6 is going to be viewed as a reach by some, and they may not be wrong. The draft this year isn't always great in those places where we would ideally like it to be. I think we are going to regret not taking a QB last year. But this year, we need to fix the offense. It will be criminal if we don't. Free agency will tell us a lot about what we're thinking.

Linderbaum? Devin Lloyd? I mean, I get it. I don't want to take a C or LB at 6 either, but if we can't trade back ffs, not another CB. Let's be real here, Brooks has Pickett going three picks later. If Pickett is value at 9, and given how bad we need a QB, he should be the pick at 6 too. Not saying Pickett is or is not value at 9, but Brooks thinks he is. Brooks even has Corral going at 11. Again, if Corral is good at 11, he's probably good at 6 as well if we can't go backwards. I hate when "analysts" who get paid big money just don't make sense.

Do any of these "analysts" even look at the rosters of the teams before they do this kind of stuff? There is no planet upon which we can justify taking a corner in the top 10 for two straight years.

The sooner we all accept that next season is going to be a train wreck of epic proportions the better off we'll all be. The last thing I want is for this staff to bring in a bunch of guys who end up slowing down the process for whomever we bring in when Rhule is finally fired.

I mean, in perfect honesty, if I had to choose between the Chargers and the Panthers I'd pick the Chargers too. Hands down. That team has the right trajectory.

Mahomes is great, there can be no question. However, can you think of a better situation for a talented, young QB to fall into? A head coach who is arguably the greatest offensive mind of his generation. A veteran QB who entered the league with high expectations (Alex Smith) to draw upon and sit behind to watch. It was the absolute best possible situation for him to fall into and allow his natural talent to grow. Mahomes is the John Elway of his generation, but with better early support and success.

I don't know. I think Tepper needs to ask some real NFL people what they think of Fitts. I don't like a situation where Rhule had anything to do with who was hired as GM. If the consensus among NFL decision makers is that Fitts is a good GM, great, keep him. But you must make him the real GM. Give him the power to hire and fire the coach and set the roster. Then get out of his way and let him run the team.

As a HC, McAdoo has a better record than our HC. Let that sink in a minute.

I don't disagree with the idea that both teams should get a chance to have the ball. I support it. However, I don't think it makes a difference to the Bills. The Bills get the ball, and predictably, Allen takes them down to score. Tie game. Mahomes wins it on the second possession. Though I suspect that if it were both teams getting the ball, McDermott goes for two when they score, knowing his defense hasn't stopped Mahomes all game.

Is he calling plays? Oh, right, still King Andy. If he's such a talent, as Reid keeps trying to tell people, why doesn't he get to call the plays? Do you really believe in him Andy? Hand him the keys. You've clearly got a Ferrari there, if he can't succeed with that cast why should anyone believe he can?

Getting to the SB over the past 20 years is not really as good an indicator as we would hope. The fact is that the last 20 years have been dominated by one player: Tom Brady. How different would the league have been if Brady didn't make it? Even when Brady isn't getting to the dance, there have only been four seasons since 2000 where Brady didn't win at least one game in the playoffs. How many teams / QB's did Brady knock out that otherwise might have gone on? It's crazy to think about.

Ok, so optimism. Got it. When Rhule fails next season: 1. Tepper must accept he is not the smartest guy in the room. Not even close. Hire a GM you trust to build your team, starting with the coach. Let your football guy (the GM) tell you who the hire should be. Challenge him, of course, but let him choose and hold him responsible. Prior to which, Tepper needs to ask trusted NFL sources their opinion on Fitts. 2. Tepper must accept that rebuilds don't take seven years . . . or five years . . . or even three years in the NFL today. Yes, after seven years of success you can say you've changed the culture to one of winning, but you don't need to change the culture first. In fact, you can't. Change the success, and culture will follow. 3. Tepper must accept that there is value in NFL experience. Seeking outsiders at times can be helpful, but tempering those outsiders with NFL experience is critical. These are the best things that can come out of keeping Matt Rhule another year. It's certainly optimistic to think that they will all happen, but these are the things that I can see as positives. In 2023.

Baker Mayfield is definitely better than people give him credit for. But seriously, Cleveland would have to be 10 kinds of stupid to get rid of him. Consider: Prior to Baker, the last QB to have a winning season in Cleveland was . . . Derek Anderson (2007). Prior to Baker, the last QB to lead the Browns to the playoffs was . . . Tim Couch (2002). The Browns are nearly the Jets over the last 20 years. And Baker has looked pretty good there. If he gets out of Cleveland, onto a truly GOOD team, he'll be seen in a very different light.

Jimmy G is TB5 with a SLIGHTLY better arm. In a really good offense, JG can look good managing games. Just don't ask him to win them.

Anyone who still believes a QB requires an excellent OLine to succeed needs to go watch the Bengals play. Burrow was absolutely under siege all day, heck all season. Dude is a baller. I was a Burrow doubter, looked like a one season wonder. I was wrong. Something obviously just "clicked" for him that last year in college.

I mean, surely he hasn't looked at our roster, right?

No. Darnold is not a Pro Bowl player, regardless of line. No one has been able to teach Darnold to make decisions more quickly, which is his problem. The three R's. Read, Recognize, React. He's a second slow on that and in the NFL, that's the difference between a Pro Bowl QB and backup.

Objectively true. McAdoo has a .464 win percentage as a head coach - even been to the playoffs and had a winning season.

The whole Rhule / Pickett thing bothers me. Like, bad. Here's the thing: If you can bring yourself to look objectively at Pickett without the lens of connection to Rhule, he's actually a pretty good prospect. But the whole Rhule being in charge thing just makes me scared. I don't have confidence in his objectivity. Pickett might be a franchise QB. And if I knew that Rhule was going to be completely uninvolved in evaluation and drafting, I'd be ok with us taking him. If our SCOUTS think he's a franchise guy. But with Rhule involved and employing PJ Walker, I can't have any faith in the objectivity of our staff.

Context, the Panthers scored 500 points in 2015. With Mike Shula as our OC. Feels like 1000 years ago.

Rockstar. 1000%.

I hope so too man. You're right, I don't know on Horn and no one else does either. But CB is one of those positions that typically struggle right away in the NFL. Maybe he was just riding the overall play of the team, we'll see.

And that's where you go wrong. Just a quick glance shows me at least five. I would encourage you and other folks who want to make arguments like this to actually do some research and understand what you're saying. It's easy to have an opinion. The Patriots are a better team this year, clearly. But just as clearly, Mac Jones was part of that improvement. Better football minds than you or me looked at the situation there and made that exact analysis.

Established? Young? Yes. It would be a hard call, very hard, but franchise QB's are ridiculously valuable. Let's say Herbert, and build it up. Herbert for Burns? In heartbeat. No regrets. Herbert for Burns and Brown? Yep. I would. No problem. Herbert for Burns, Brown and Horn? Hard. Not because of Burns and Brown, but because Horn may be Richard Sherman or Darrell Revis. I'm not ready to crown him, but boy was he looking good. Locking down half the field might be the second most valuable asset in the league because like QB's, there are so few who can reliably do it.